How to say the rosary for children

Written by alyson paige

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Children may appreciate the simple beauty of the rosary. (Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images)

Saying the rosary, with its beads, interactive nature, and assortment of vivid images, is a prayer activity suitable for children. Show children how to navigate the rosary's decades of beads and other prayer elements. Describe the mysteries that accompany praying the rosary. Pray with children for prayerful bonding experience. Use images to spark children's imaginations and to illustrate the meaning of the many aspects of the rosary. Integrate technology into the prayer experience to appeal to children's learning experiences.

Skill level:

Moderate

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Things you need

Copy of the Rosary prayer

Mysteries pictures

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Instructions

1

Show your children the different elements of a rosary. Explain that each set of 10 beads is called a decade and that each decade relates to the Joyful, the Sorrowful, the Glorious and the Luminous Mysteries. Tell children that each mystery represents Jesus' experiences from the time Mary conceived to his ascension into Heaven. Explain that prayers recite certain mysteries on certain days of the week, during certain seasons, and on certain feast days.

2

Interact with an online audio version of the rosary. Select a free program with music and the words with which children can follow and pray.

3

Pray an entire rosary with your children to show them when and how to hold the crucifix, the beads, and the centrepiece. Teach them to begin by holding the crucifix while making the Sign of the Cross and reciting the Apostle's Creed. Guide your children's fingers to the first bead as you recite Our Father together.

4

Show your children how to hold each of the next 10 beads, reciting the Hail Mary with each bead. Proceed through the remaining decades and Our Father beads. Teach children to finish by reciting the "Hail Holy Queen," "O God Whose Only Begotten Son," and making the Sign of the Cross, in that order.

Tips and warnings

Lay out pictures of the mysteries as you describe them to your children.

Once children learn the different recitations of the rosary, show them how to think about the mysteries as they say the rosary.